Intel and Nvidia reach $1.5 billion settlement

Intel and Nvidia's legal case, which began with the former suing the latter in 2009 and subsequently being counter-sued, has reached a conclusion with Intel agreeing to pay Nvidia $1.5 billion (around £965 million) to use its chip technology.

The move comes during a fascinating period for CPU development - no really.

Intel currently dominates the PC market with its x86 architecture (which Nvidia will still not have the right to use under the terms of the settlement), and Nvidia is making big strides with its Tegra 2 dual-core platform for mobile devices - including the CES Best in Show device, the Motorola Xoom.

But Nvidia has also recently come clean with its Project Denver ambitions, which aim to bring ARM-based architecture back into the PC market.

"This agreement signals a new era for Nvidia," said Jen-Hsun Huang, Nvidia's president and chief executive. "It also underscores the importance of our inventions to the future of personal computing as well as the expanding markets for mobile and cloud computing".

"This agreement ends the legal dispute between the companies", said Doug Melamed, Intel senior vice president and counsel. "It also enables the companies to focus on innovation and the development of new products".

So both parties are seemingly happy with the settlement, but only time will tell which manufacturer wins out in the end.